Meeting of the Parliament 15 January 2025
I will address that point in a second.
As I pointed out to the minister, the tax will be a contributing factor to significant rent increases in Scotland, because it will constrain supply. Edinburgh has the highest rent rises in the United Kingdom, at 12 per cent, and Nationwide suggests that higher rents are now preventing some tenants who would become first-time buyers from saving for a deposit in order to buy their first home, which is the stated policy and objective of ADS. Nationwide said:
“house prices remained high relative to average earnings, which meant that the deposit hurdle remained high for prospective first-time buyers.
This is a challenge that has been made worse by record rates of rental growth in recent years, which has hampered the ability of many in the private rented sector to save”
for their deposits.
In evidence to the committee, the minister gave us little confidence that the policy intent of the tax rise was being met. He described the picture as being subject to “all kinds of factors”. However, the Government has announced that a review will be conducted to explore various aspects and elements of land and buildings transaction tax, which could include the additional dwelling supplement. I hope that, even if the tax rise passes tonight, the Government will still commit to a review of ADS.
The sad fact is that, in the committee, Scottish Labour voted for the tax rise. Anas Sarwar appears to be spineless when it comes to standing up to the Scottish Government on the Scottish budget. The increase in the additional dwelling supplement is just one bad element of a bad budget—a bad budget that will pass next month because Scottish Labour has caved in without getting concessions from the SNP.
However, the Scottish Conservatives will side with common sense and oppose the latest SNP tax rise.
17:43